Slide 1

Introduction to local innovation and joint experimentationPietermaritzburgKwaZulu-Natal5-7 April 2010

What is local innovation?It is the process by which farmers, without support from R&D agents, discover or develop new and better ways of doing things using the locally available resourcesGenerally it is a process of building on the local knowledge of an area by using new ideas from various sources, including farmers own creativity The outcomes of this process are called local innovations

Local innovation cont.Local innovation can be either technical or non-technicalTechnical innovation could involve development of equipment, agricultural practices, value adding practices, etcNon-technical innovation or social innovation can involve ways that people organise themselves, make changes to cultural behaviour or gender roles, etc

Terminology cont..Who is an innovator?Innovators are those people (in our case farmers and land users) who develop these new production methods or management approaches in order to improve their lives, their communities and/or their natural environment Research and extension programmes can benefit from working with innovative people who bring their own ideas about how to address a particular problem or capture an opportunity

In the extension context, all farmers can be encouraged to try things out and exchange their experiences / outcomes

Indigenous knowledge Its a knowledge that people in a given community have developed over time, and continue to develop.

Its developed within a specific context and is thus suited to those particular conditions (both the social and physical aspects).

How does it evolve? Its dynamic and changes over time as people find ways of improving it. Changes are made in order to make it more appropriate to emerging challenges, opportunities and conditions.New tools, skills and knowledge that are encountered are integrated and thus results into changes.

PID: Developing innovations together

Ability to innovateWhat is PID?The process of finding new things and ways that work and which are compatible with culturally-based local knowledge systemsThe often unreflected knowledge of villagers about their complex situation is combined with external knowledge, which includes scientific knowledgeOutcomes of PID innovations that improve livelihoods and competence for self-reliant local experimentation and actionPID is an approach to development that strengthens farmers capacity to test and experiment on their ownPID strengthens the capacity of resource users to analyse ongoing processes and develop relevant innovations fitted for new conditions and opportunities -this includes institutional development

What is PID?Other terms that can be used:Farmer-led participatory research and developmentFarmer-led joint investigationFarmer-led joint experimentationIt is a participatory process where R&D agents work with farmers to improve existing innovations or develop new ones, and where farmers actively participate in directing, planning, implementing and evaluating the process.PID is where research and development programmes are based on things that rural people are already trying out or ideas that they might have about how to improve their livelihood systems - it builds on existing ideas and motivations

What types of activities could PID include?PID could involveJoint experimentation (e.g. determining which fertilizer application rate produces the best results) Improving a piece of equipment so that it is easier to use or works better (e.g. trying different materials or making adjustments to a plough)PID is not just about developing new technologies it could involve trying out and developing a new system or way of organising things (e.g. for marketing produce or sharing information) soft innovations

Steps in the PID processRelationship building with the communityIdentification of innovators (And local innovation processes)Looking for things to try Screen ideas whether they are cost effective, simple, accessible, will yield results, whether people are willing to try them outDecide what is to be done, who will do it, duration, expected outputTrying out (development and implementation of simple experiments that can be managed by the farmers themselves)This should also strengthen farmers capacity to design, implement and evaluate their own experimentsSelect the farmer-experimenters (local innovators), involve local expertsProvide basic training for innovators in experimental methods (how to plan and design simple trials, management, site selection, measurements, analysis of results)Set up the trials (develop criteria for experiment objectives, location, controls, treatments, timing, types of records to be kept, measurements to be made (how, when, who), external assistance required)Follow-up activities (management of the trials, monitoring, participatory assessment, exchange visits, record-keeping)

PID Steps continued..EvaluationThis begins when the trials are set up, is done by individual experimenters as well as farmer groupsOverall evaluation at the end of the experiment (based on the criteria used in setting up the trial), and involves deciding the next course of action to be taken (Adoption, recommendation, modification)Dissemination of the resultsFarmer tours, group meetings, field days, farmer-to-farmer training, development of audio-visuals, manuals, etcSustaining the process institutionalising experimentation and joint learning processes (through establishment of forums such field days, farmer-to-farmer visits)

ExperimentationWhat do we mean by experimentation?the testing of an ideathe act of conducting a controlled test or investigation (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)A test under controlled conditions that is made to demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy of something previously untried. (http://www.answers.com/topic/experiment)A set of actions and observations, performed to verify or falsify a hypothesis or to research a causal relationship between phenomena (en.wiktionary.org/wiki/experimentation)

Day 2: Recap of termsLocal innovationIndigenous knowledgeParticipatory innovation developmentExperimentationA trialJoint experimentationFarmer-ledParticipatoryWhat is this drawing about?

What is the purpose of experimentation?Exploration where you try out something new and cannot predict the resultsHypothesis testing where you are testing something where you already have an idea of the result that you will obtain (you are really testing your assumptions)Verification confirming that something really worksDemonstration Showing the benefit of a certain practice or product - The difference between a demonstration and an experiment is that the farmer doing the demonstration follows given recommendations and is assured of success whereas with an experiment the result could be positive or negative

Key concepts of experimentationTreatment this is the conditions (combination of factors) that you are testing (e.g. levels of fertilizer) Control the baseline against which we can compare the treatment effectReplicates how many times we repeat a particular treatment in the experiment

Key concepts cont.Significance of results is one treatment really producing a better result than another is there a real difference?Probability - If I increase fertilizer rate and get an increased yield, is the effect random or is it really due to the treatment?If we say that variety A yields more than variety B (p